Return To Vinyl

In this episode - Return to Vinyl . . .

Can you name the tune from the introduction? Stick with me, and we will reveal it at the end of this podcast.

You may have missed it - Saturday, April 22, 2023, was Record Store Day. It was news to me. By chance, to get a new cartridge for my turntable, I made a trip to our local store (Standards) in Vista, CA. The store was crawling with customers. What's going on? So I had to look it up.

Record Store Day started on April 19, 2008, and was founded by Chris Brown, a record store employee in Baltimore, Maryland, and Eric Levin, the owner of Criminal Records in Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of Record Store Day is to celebrate and promote independent record stores and the unique culture they foster. It has since grown into an international event, with hundreds of record stores participating worldwide.

In 2022, 41 million vinyl units were sold compared to 33 million CDs, highlighting a "remarkable resurgence" of the physical music format, per the Thursday report; according to The Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA), Vinyl records made up 70% of all physical music sales in 2022, bringing in a total of $1.2 billion in revenue.

A little historical content. The vinyl LP (long-playing record) was invented in 1948 by Columbia Records. The LP significantly improved over the 78 rpm shellac discs that were the standard, allowing for longer playing time and better sound quality. The LP was made possible by the invention of vinyl, a durable and flexible plastic material that could be molded into grooves to hold sound recordings. Vinyl was first developed in the 1920s, but in the late 1940s, it became the standard material for record production.

Columbia Records introduced the first LP in June 1948, 12 inches in diameter, and played at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute (RPM). This allowed up to 25 minutes of music to be recorded on each side of the disc, compared to the four or five minutes that could fit on a 78-rpm disc.

The introduction of the LP revolutionized the music industry, allowing for longer, more complex recordings and helping to establish the “album concept” as a complete artistic statement. The LP also helped to popularize a wide range of music genres, from classical music to jazz, blues, and rock and roll.

What's your most memorable moment visiting a record store? I'd have to say my first visit in 1986 to Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. was epic after my move to Los Angeles. Browsing my collection, I discovered the album "True" by Spandau Ballet, released in 1983.

My listening friends, what are you waiting for, stop reading this and drop an LP onto your turntable and enjoy!

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Comments

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . . This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholē , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...

A Heart Full of Thanks

Oh, the thanks I could think, and the thanks I could say! For the wonderful people who brightened my day. The first one is Lori, my wife, sweet and true, Who knows just the thing and knows just what to do. She whipped up a feast with a smile and a sigh, With corn on the cob and a steak cooked “On the Fly!” My neighbor, Steve, with a mischievous gleam, Said, “No fence work today! No work, it would seem! You’ll paint with some water, some colors so bright, And sign your new painting with all of your might!" I laughed and I said, “But I don’t know that skill! I’ll slap on some paint and see what sticks still!” Then there’s my friends on the Facebook machine, The best group of readers that ever was seen! They read all my blogs and they hear my podcasts, They send all their cheer that's built to last! And Billy and Linda. A Snoopy card in the mail. A wonderful surprise that was sure to prevail! From very good friends, a delightful new tale ! But the thanks didn't stop, no, not...

The Summer Surprise

In this special episode, The Summer Surprise . . . Well, howdy there! It's me, Huck Finn, and lemme tell ya, somethin' special happened just the other day. We called it "The Summer Surprise.” Phew-wee! That ol' post box, it coughed up somethin' good! Wasn't no bills, nor them pesky ads, and thankfully, no regular ol' rocks neither. Nope, this here was a letter, folded up neat as a pin, looked a bit like one o' them school lockers, just sittin' there waitin' to be opened. It was from young Sierra, a mighty fine friend, and she'd gone and made some pure, honest-to-goodness artwork with her own two hands. My fingers they was all thumbs, just itching to see what kind of wild wonder she'd whipped up this time. I unfolded that paper, careful-like, you know, and bless my bare feet, there it was! A picture of a whole gymnasium and a mini-soccer field, all done up in colors that just popped. She'd used crayons and pencils, and you could tel...

A Pirate's Ponderings

In this episode, A Pirate's Ponderings: Turning 69 with a Classic . . . When was the last time you were so compelled by a quest that you had your bags packed and your boots on before the first rooster crowed? For me, this summer has been exactly that, a journey where the world outside faded away and the one inside my head roared to life. I felt like that young cabin boy in training, with the vast ocean of a great story stretching out before me. My hand was on the wheel, navigating every swell, riding the waves, and eager to see what lay just beyond the horizon. This wasn't a journey across lands, but a flight of imagination that has been an exciting ride. My adventure took off on the deck of the Hispaniola as I became lost on Treasure Island . My imagination soared, and I could almost taste the salt spray and feel the ship's timbers groan as we sailed toward our destiny. Below deck, in the narrow, shadowy depths, I could smell the hearty meals Long John Silver and Jim Haw...

On The Fly

Search This Blog